PHILADELPHIA – The Ivy League champion University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team announced its yearly award winners at the team's annual banquet, which took place on campus Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore AJ Brodeur was named this year's recipient of the Arthur Kiefaber Most Valuable Player Award. Brodeur finished the season averaging 13.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, numbers that jumped to 14.8 and 7.6 in Ivy play. In conference play, he finished the year second among Ivy players in rebounding, tenth in scoring, tied for second in steals per game, third in blocked shots per game, and fourth in field-goal percentage. The Ivy League Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Brodeur finished with 22 double-figure scoring games including four with at least 20 points, and he had five double-doubles—including both Ivy League Tournament games—and six games with more than 10 rebounds.. Following the season, Brodeur was named unanimous first-team All-Ivy; first-team NABC All-District; and second-team All-ECAC.
 
Senior Matt MacDonald was honored as this year's Bus McDonald Award winner as the program's Most Inspirational Player. A transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson University, MacDonald was a two-year captain after sitting out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA transfer rules. This season, he played in 21 games, scoring 25 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. MacDonald also had eight steals and five assists.
 
Freshman Jarrod Simmons was named this year's winner of the G. Fred DiBona Award as the team's top newcomer. Simmons saw time in 24 of Penn's 33 games this season, averaging 2.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game and playing an average of 6.1 minutes per contest. The freshman had two double-figure scoring games, with 16 against Penn State Brandywine and 12 against Delaware State, and he also had nine points and eight rebounds in a win at Howard.
 
Penn finished the year at 24-9, the most wins by a Quakers team since 2001-02. The Red and Blue tied Harvard for the Ivy League regular-season title, both teams going 12-2 in league play, then defeated the Crimson 68-65 in the Ivy League Tournament final to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2007. Penn is scheduled to return four starters from this year's team and eight letter winners overall.